Valentine's Culture
by ReadYourHeartOut
Summary: Happy Valentine's Day! Italy's the only one of the Axis who really celebrates it, so he's sharing his culture with his friends! Fluffy, and briefly GermanyxItaly.


**A/N: Once again…fluffles. So much research went into this… I'm such a weirdo. Servant thine, Mpathy.**

…

"Germany!" Running into the living room, I pounced on my ally, knocking him down on the couch. I hugged him tightly and rubbed my head against his shoulder, adding, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Valentine's?" he asked, glancing up at me. "I've never really celebrated it."

"But why not? It's a holiday that started in Grandpa Rome's time!" I said, letting him sit up. "Look, I even drew you a Valentine's card!" Making a shy face at him, I nervously held up the red paper I had drawn on. If he didn't celebrate Valentine's Day, would he still accept it?

"Oh…" He took the card from me and looked at it for a second. When he realized that I was watching intently, he sighed and opened it up, reading all the things I had written on the inside. There was even a picture I had drawn of him, all stern and yelling orders as usual. I didn't draw it that way to be mean; that's just how I knew him! He let out a sigh, but his mouth was curved just a little bit in a smile. "I like it. Sank you, Italy…"

"You're welcome," I grinned. Then I sat back and held out my hands. Germany looked, surprised, from my face to my hands, then back again. "Oh, right. If you don't celebrate it, then… That's okay. At least I got to give you mine." I leaned forward and kissed him down onto his back again, then stood up and left the room, looking for Japan next. I found him in his room, sitting in bed and reading one of his manga-books.

"Japan! I have a Valentine for you," I announced, holding my card up. He seemed confused by that. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. In my country, only women give presents on Valentine's day. Men wait until White Day. I suppose I should have thought about the difference between our cultures and gotten you something now…" he muttered, looking kind of upset.

"No, no, it's okay! I wouldn't want you to change how you do things," I told him. "Germany didn't get me anything either, so it's okay."

"But I feel bad…" he argued as I handed over my card. He opened it up, and as he read it, he smiled, too. "This is very nice of you, Italy-kun."

"Ve, it was nothing," I giggled. Bending down to his level, I tried to kiss his cheek (because that's something we do at my house!), but he pulled away shyly. "Mmh! Can I at least hug you?"

"…all right." He sat up and I hugged him tightly, then left to start my special Valentine's dinner. Normally, we would've gone out to eat, but I thought it would be better if _I_ made dinner for my friends. So I went to the kitchen and started cooking. Once he heard the noise, Germany immediately started to get worried.

"Italy, are you making a mess in zere?" he called.

"Nooo," I replied as I rolled out the dough for my pasta. "I'm just making dinner! You'll like it, I promise." I don't know how long I was cooking; I was having too much fun to pay attention to what time it was. And…maybe I did kind of make a mess…but I cleaned it up! Mostly. Anyway, Germany didn't come into the kitchen, so it was okay! When I was finally done with all the preparations, I set things up in the dining room so they were pretty. Then I went and retrieved my allies, dragging them into the dining room.

"Ta-dah!" I cried, showing them the results of all my work.

"Italy-kun, this looks nice. You didn't have to go to all this trouble," Japan told me; I guess he still felt bad because he hadn't gotten me anything.

"I didn't mind! It was fun; sit down," I said, taking my own seat. I sat at one end of the table, and Germany sat at the other, with Japan on the side between us.

"Strange to see you putting so much effort into somesing, Italy; you're usually too lazy for somesing like zis," Germany observed. When he noticed the rose I had set next to his plate, he picked it up and looked at it for a second before turning his glance up to me and smiling just a little.

"W-well, that's only when it comes to things like training and fighting," I told him. "I like to do things like this, especially when it's for my friends!" We at our pasta and it was great; Japan and Germany liked it too, so I was really happy!

"Vhat's zis?" Germany asked once he had finished his meal. He picked up one of the chocolates I had set in front of each of my friends' plates and examined it while I grinned.

"They're Baci Perugina! They're a tradition at my house," I explained. "Try one; they're really good!" Since he was so polite, Japan was the first one to unwrap his, and he seemed surprised when he found a small piece of plastic wrapped around it.

"What's this? Is it like a fortune cookie…?" he muttered, reading it silently. Suddenly, his cheeks turned red.

"What does it say?" I asked, but he shook his head, refusing to tell us.

"_Mein_ is…'give me many kisses.'" Germany announced, reading it. "It's in five different languages und none of zem is _mein_."

"Sorry about that," I laughed. "Try the chocolate; it's good, too." Once we had finished off the entire box of chocolates I had bought, I started to clean things up, but Japan stopped me.

"Italy-kun, you cooked this dinner for us; let us clean up," he said, already starting to gather plates. "It's the least we can do to repay you for your kindness."

"Japan is right; you can relax," Germany agreed, starting to help Japan pick up dishes.

"Well…okay. We have a saying about that, you know! _Chi la sera i pasti li ha fatti, sta agli altri lavare i piatti_. It means 'If one cooks the meal, then the others wash up,'" I told them with a smile, running off to mine and Germany's room to change clothes. Once I had put on my pajamas, though, I found something on my pillow. When I picked it up, I found that it was a Valentine! The picture on the front was of a pig holding a bunch of roses, and on the inside there were only four words.

"_Ich liebe Sie._ –Germany."

"Ahem. Do you…like it?" I looked up to see Germany standing in the doorway and blushing slightly.

"Of course I do," I answered as he closed the door and walked over to my side, wrapping his arms around my stomach. "But I thought you didn't celebrate Valentine's day."

"Vell…I usually don't. But zen, I usually don't have anyone to spend it viss," he muttered into my hair.

"That's okay; you have me from now on," I told him, leaning in closer. Just as he was about to kiss me, I held his Valentine up between us to stop him. "But why is it a pig?"

"Er…it's just somesing zat's done in my country. It's symbolism, you know…" he explained.

"Symbolism? Does it mean I'm fat?" I started to worry then, glancing down at my stomach. I _had_ eaten a lot of pasta and gelato lately…

"_Nein_, it's nossing like zat!" he said quickly. "It's a symbol of luck…und…"

"_Und_ what?" I asked, looking up into his eyes.

"N-nossing," he muttered, taking the card and setting it aside. When he came back. he wrapped his arms tightly around my stomach and said, "In any case, I sink Valentine's _Night_ is more important than the Day…"

"Pervert," I mumbled under my breath. "Are you going to tie me up again…?"

"After vhat happened last time? I don't sink so," he said, setting his lips against my neck. "I don't vant you crying again; zat made me feel awful…"

"It wasn't my fault; my arms hurt!" Turning to face him, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "Anyway, I'm just happy we can celebrate together now."

"…So am I."

**A/N: I…fail at endings. Also, if you're curious, Google "German Valentine's Day" and the first link should tell you about the pigs…**


End file.
